15 June 2004
      Took my tenth and final breeding bird count this morning(I'll post the
results once they are compiled).  Although this was one of the least
interesting routes, just walking through the central fields, it produced the
best birds of the season- two female plumaged HOODED MERGANSERS in a small
pond near a swamp. They flew off before I could try and age them.  It seems
a little too early to have fully independent young from a nesting this year,
so their status remains unknown.  Earlier this spring this pond had a pair
of Green-winged Teal that stayed around for a couple of weeks.
       I walked back to the car by the impoundments and found 2 of the 3
non-rail rails: the PURPLE GALLINULE was walking on a mat of smartweed and
the COMMON MOORHEN was sitting on a fallen tree along the island shoreline.
I watched awhile but couldn't come up with the COOT that has been here(I
last saw it on June 11) .
      Other birds of interest were 2 YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERONS- one flying
over on the count and an adult in a swampy area along Hunting Quarter Rd
where I commonly found them the past 2 years, but this was the first time
this year and a singing YELLOW-THROATED VIREO in a willow in a very open
area .  This species is relatively common here, but to me this was a strange
place to find one- more like Warbling Vireo habitat.

Paul Woodward
Fairfax City, VA 22032